Full Name: Mr. Marcus Tullius Cicero
Date of Birth: January 3, 106 B.C.
Place of Birth: Arpino, Italy
Died: December 7, 43 B.C.
Place of Death: Formia, Italy
Classification: Scientist & Thinkers
Regarded as one of the greatest orators in world history, Cicero was a writer and an advocate in philosophy and politics. His work has influenced and actually guided Western thought processes, an evolution that has inspired fields such as verse and logic even to this day.
At a young age, Cicero was given an elite education due to his father’s social status and ranking as a wealthy landowner. In the Social War, Cicero gained a reputation as a staunch advocate who could argue his point of view with the best in the land. During Sulla’s regime in Italy, Cicero defended Sextus America on charges of murder against the regime’s politics. Following the public outcry, Cicero decided to leave for Rhodes, where he would complete some of his studies. He later advocated other cases that gained him public fame as a defender of the people.
When Caesar rose to power with the Triumvirate, a three-head council that acted as a dictatorship, Cicero was exiled to Macedonia. He then returned to Rome and worked in support of Caesar, most likely since his life was in danger. During the internal struggle and Civil War of Rome, Cicero, instead of bothering in the politics and struggles of the day, took to his writing, where he produced some of his most famed philosophical works. He became somewhat helpless to the ways of force over reason of the day and did not get involved in higher levels of politics for some time. The writings that survived him are small in number, but show the true audacity and lucid ability of Cicero in his speeches.
In Cicero’s Dialogues, he wrote using Latin and discussed a variety of subjects, including ethics, religion, and philosophy. In his work, he claims that he helped outline some of the dominant forms of thought in his day, namely those of Aristotle and Plato. In his latter years, he published several essays on friendship and growing old. He also devoted himself to writing about more conservative issues, including several on morality, and composed poetry. While he is not regarded in history for his verse, his poetry was shown to be well studied and choreographed. However, Cicero’s Letters are what most scholars focus on as it portrays the bulk of Cicero’s thought processes, done in both speech form and dialogue
